Chris Brokaw May Not Yet Be A Household Name- But Several Of The Bands He's Been A Core Member Of Are (Well... At Least In Our Little Corner Of The World). When Your Resume' Includes Heady Projects & Respected Bands Like Come (With Thalia Zedek; Stellar Catalog On Matador), Pullman (With Tortoise's Doug Mccombs & Bundy Brown; 2 Longplayers On Thrill Jockey), And The New Year (Ex-Bedheaders Now Thoughtfully Rocking On Touch & Go), Codeine (Archetypal Slow-Rock On Vintage Sub Pop), And Steve Wynn- The Quality Of One's Work Amounts To More Than A Known Quantity: It's Simply Implicit, And Expectations Are Neccessarily High. Which Brings Us To Red Cities, Chris' Solo Debut. Pardon The Namechecking Above, But We Just Don't Want You To Miss Out On One Of The Best Instrumental Records Of The Year. It's Both Organic & Deliberate, Epic & Detailed, Part Spaghetti Western & Part Road Flick- All Delivered To Your Auditory Canals By The Master Hands Of A Truly Gifted Multi-Instrumentalist. Kindred Spirits And Reference Points Include Calexico (Sans South Of The Border Vibe), Pinetop Seven & Giant Sand (Sans Vocals), And Even Late-Period Savage Republic. The Mammoth Sheets Of Guitar Texture, Powerful Drumming & Intricate Elements That Provide The Foundation For Red Cities Are Simply A Pleasure To Hear; These Are Big, Bad-Assed Desperado Noir Numbers Done Right... The Tastemakers Of The Esteemed Other Music Shoppe/Mecca Have Weighed In Thusly On Chris' Recently Released Ep On Kimchee: ...This 15-Minute Ep Is A Brief Respite From The Sometimes Over-Thought Sounds Coming From Indie-Rock Today... A Delicious Morsel, And A Taste Of What Our Beloved Brokaw Has In Store For His Full-Length Coming Out On Atavistic .